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Did you know there are more than 11 million people in South Africa who are affected by hunger? Of these, 3.2 million of them are children. With an empty tummy, children aren’t able to grow properly; they’re tired, more anxious and often have trouble learning and making friends. But with the right nutrition, they are able to learn, grow and thrive. Regular, healthy meals boost a child’s energy, strength and focus, helping their development and filling them with hope for a brighter future.

Children often express themselves and their feelings through their drawings. Teachers and child psychologists often use a child’s drawings to help interpret a child’s level of development and how they feel about themselves and the world around them.

This year’s KFC Add Hope campaign tells the story of Hope, using drawings from the children of Afrika Tikkun, one of Add Hope’s beneficiaries. The drawings tell a story of how a meal makes a real difference to a child’s development.

The 2015 Add Hope story will be communicated through an integrated campaign that includes the first ever TV advert for Add Hope, created solely from hundreds of actual drawings from the children that Add Hope feeds. The advert visually tells a story of how with the help of your R2 donation, a meal can make a real difference to the lives of the children Add Hope feeds.

Watch the behind-the-scenes video below to see how the creative team managed to bring this beautiful story of hope to life here.

October is World Hunger Month and this month KFC Add Hope is raising awareness by pledging a plate for World Hunger Month. We are joining our friends at KFC in taking a stand for 11 million hungry South Africans!

Friday after a week of Cannes. The streets are a mix of emotions. Literally. They caught a couple on the red carpet in front of the Palais going at it after having carefully placed their shoes a respectful distance. And all the press have to say about it here is how they managed a respectable 23 minutes in rather trying conditions.

But there are also those wandering the streets who expected more from the festival and were unpleasantly surprised to find “not even a bloody shortlist,” as the one somewhat drunken gentleman said. In his defense, we think he was actually just a homeless guy that was finishing what seemed to be a cheap brandy. But nothing is cheap here.

Discussing the streets of France with Gerry Human he relayed a story of how the previous night he was making his way across a zebra crossing with his lovely wife Caroline both of them in eveningwear. Just so you know, in France it’s kind of law to stop for pedestrians. But like everywhere, laws seem more like suggestions to rich people.

So the one car stopped and another sped up and slipped past almost knocking into the two of them. Naturally Gerry did the only thing a chivalrous man would do and kicked the car. Which then skidded to halt blocking traffic and spat out a yellow tracksuited, thin bearded, Marseille version of Ali G. Caroline sweetly continues walking and Gerry darts into a soiree at the Carlton making his way into a confused crowd of delegates and slips into conversation. LeThug came up to Caroline and confronts her. A Full French Frontal. She politely declined his abuse in English and he set off to find Gerry. Caroline went into the hotel and got into the lift with Kim Kardashian’s bouncer. Safe. Gerry was mingling in the sea of suits and tracksuit guy ended up having just to leave them be. To skulk back onto the streets.

Whilst Gerry is telling us this story at the Ogilvy Party, Tammy Retter goes to find a chair nearby. The Gentleman from Ogilvy India says, “Listen to me. Are you pregnant? Are you Indian? Do you have a bag?” at which point everyone laughed together. But no, she didn’t get the chair. It’s a great mix of people here.

Sir Martin Sorrel didn’t came to the Ogilvy Party. He did however show up to interview Al Gore who is surprisingly funny actually. And smart. This was the only talk that went over time. Quite a bit actually. But Martin can do that you know, because he owns advertising and probably Cannes too. And you. The talk after him was by 123 west, a Canadian agency. They spoke on how to start your own agency. They had a list of points to indicate how you know it might be time to go off on your own. One of their points came up with a picture of Sir Martin Sorrel and they said when your holding company posted
$67million profits last year but you haven’t had a raise in two years. They did mention that they saw backstage and all is cool and actually, kudos to him for starting his own business. It’s working for him.

Essentially the streets of Cannes carry many weird and wonderful things, and like this story, one little thing leads to another and you wind down a completely unrelated path that ends somewhere you never expected. But you’re still in Cannes, in Advertsing and you’re laughing the whole time, enjoying every minute. Especially the minutes that include free booze, cause like we mentioned seventeen Euro (about R306) for a tequila is a bit much really. If you want to take your drinking seriously here you’re going to have to be homeless.

Lastly – the ubiquitous selfie stick! It has taken the world by storm. People in Cannes snapping here, snapping there! It has bred armies of people who roam around daily in pursuit of the perfect snap. You can’t walk down the street without having to stop just to allow someone to finish taking their selfie. Having said that though, if we put my frustrations aside, there is something to be said about an innovative product that works like a charm for those it’s targeted at. Someone saw a gap and found a way to make the human arm two times longer. A product had to start somewhere – and after spending six days in Cannes, we feel that we’ve seen many that may seem impossible to market, but are innovative and might one day make a difference in consumers’ lives. But alas, while we think the selfie stick looks ridiculous, we don’t blame those selfie stick carriers for wanting to snap away around the Croisette.

The work may have hailed from the furthest corners of the planet and represent brands across every possible industry – but there was a common chord clearly visible throughout nearly all of the winning work at the first ceremony of 2015. Simply put, the commonality was “ideas for good”. Almost all of last night’s winning work in one way or another, sought to uplift or improve the lives of the audience who engaged with it. Extremely surprising amongst the Gold winners was the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, that didn’t seem to have an agency attached to it – although it probably did.

I didn’t think that the 4 Grand Prix statutes awarded were heads and shoulders above the rest of the metal-grabbers last night. Although altogether, the work really and truly was outstanding. And special mention needs to go to all of the artists behind the work: the art directors, illustrators, photographers and such. Last night was a feast for the eyes.

In the Direct category, the Grand Prix went to Grey New York and Volvo for “Interception”. It utilises a stunningly simple mechanic that got the Superbowl audience to think Volvo when another car manufacturers’ commercial played on TV. This is it.

In the Mobile category, the Grand Prix went to Google for the cardboard rendition of their Google Glasses. This is just the type of progressive thing that one expects from a company like Google. It feels like we’re getting a glimpse of the future with this invention. You can bank on seeing these cardboard masterpieces popping up in awards shows in the future – it’s only a matter of time until other brands and agencies get to grips with the technology. Have a peek here.

I thought the Press winners were brilliant. With the world gone crazy over digital, it is still nice to see ideas packaged and presented the way the winners did last night. Big, original and simple ideas are still the most important thing in this business. And beauty is still a powerful weapon for brands. There was a Coca-Cola piece that sucked the air right out of the Palais last night, which would probably have been my Grand Prix choice. But here’s the official winner for your viewing pleasure.

And finally, in Promo and Activations the Grand Prix went to Volvo for “Life Paint”. This win really came as no surprise. The case study was just incredibly slick, communicating an idea that really and truly only a brand like Volvo could authentically pull-off. And again, a piece of work that takes a bold and creative step towards a better world. Enjoy it here.

It’s time to head down to the Palais to take in some more of the world’s best work. Let’s hope that South Africa can come back strong tonight, I haven’t yet seen today’s shortlists. But if last night was anything to go by, then we’re in for another inspiring treat no matter who wins.

It’s the 62nd Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the south of France, but it looks more like a festival of technology because as far as the eye can see tech companies have taken up the beach front stands. It’s clear that they want to make sure their presence is known during a week where important questions are being asked about the relevance of brands and advertisers in the lives of consumers in a world where change is happening faster than I’m typing.

How do we as brands and advertisers make sure we become part of the data that is being consumed every day and what is the role of creativity in all of this. According to Sean Rad, the founder and president of Tinder, social media platforms that can’t deliver content at the same rate it’s being consumed at, will die but is the answer in producing content faster if more than 4.4 Zettabytes of data was produced last year alone (4.4 trillion gigabytes)?

According to Koichi Yamamoto from Dentsu in Japan, big data is the new air and that artificial intelligence (AI) is the new big data frontier. Toibot is a bot that talks like you by analyzing what you’ve tweeted before and then tweets on your behalf. Vice asked its readers on twitter yesterday if they would rather have a robot sexting them than nobody at all. There are even automated copywriters available now. Does this new tech world even need us?

But Koichi also said something really profound. He said that big data can only be used to analyse the past, that it can’t imagine the future, it can’t dream, it can only make sense of the past.

Which means that we don’t need new tech. We don’t need big data. We don’t need connected devices and the internet of things. They need us. They need our emotions, our feelings, our stories, our hopes and dreams to exist. Us being creative, experimenting, playing and dreaming up new ways of doing things is what makes them smart. That the richer and more creative the lives we live, the smarter they will become.

It reminded me that we have to keep fighting the creative fight. That we cant resort to ideas that have been formed by analyzing past winners or coming up with solutions from mashing together old ones. That is big data’s job, not ours. We have to be better than that. And as long as we know the difference between the two, we can look the big old yellow ghost in the eye and not be afraid at all.

View all the winners from Press, Promo and Activation, Direct and Mobile below:

Officially, it’s the “international festival of creativity”. But after just a few hours of arriving in Cannes, much like my last trip here in 2013, I’m instantly reminded about what a magnificent shock to the system this event is. Everywhere you go, there are people like us talking about creativity, the work and the awards. There are beautifully executed displays everywhere – the tech companies really know how to put on a show. And then there are the seminars – every year the line-up is just unbelievable.

You’re given a literal bag of information when you register, to help guide you through the week. And the one I always reach for first is the 250-page program. This year I was surprised to see that the first ad inside is for Ogilvy’s seminar, featuring the one-and-only Monica Lewinsky. She’s on a new mission now, which she’ll be discussing with our Worldwide Chief Creative Officer: Thank Khai Meng. I’ll definitely attend that one and share my learnings.

There’s an entire program of workshops and masterclasses scheduled to take place too. In 2013 I attended a number of these that were hosted by globally renowned creative directors. I probably enjoyed these events the most, they’re great for learning and sharing within a relatively small group. A workshop on technology and strategic thinking hosted by Chloe Gottlieb, Executive Creative Director at R/GA New York, caught my eye on this year’s roster.

But it’s the work that we come all this way for. There are banks of Apple computers lined up at the Paleis where one can peruse every single one of the entries, if you can. And when the finalists are announced, they are put on display. And this is a treat beyond measure. Here, we all get to be judges at Cannes. It’s a stunning preview of what each night’s ceremony will be about. With Ogilvy & Mather coming out on top at the festival for three years in a row, there’s another exciting dimension to the 2015 story waiting to unfold.

Cannes Lions is simply epic in so many ways. Officially, they’ve used the word “festival” to sum it all up. I though, won’t be reducing it to a single word, instead I’ll be sharing my experiences throughout the week in pictures and words and whatever else I can through our various social pages. Hope you enjoy it.

Sibusiso Sithole is one of our talented Creative Directors and was on the set of the #TIA TV shoot in Ghana. We asked him to tell us what the campaign is really about and why turning the #TIA stereotype around matters so much.

We are proud to announce that Alistair Mokoena has been appointed Managing Director of Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg.

Ally, as he is known to many, has spent the last two years at FCB Johannesburg where he served as Managing Director. He played an instrumental role in the turn around of the agency, which has experienced creative and commercial success this year.

A well-respected industry leader, Mokoena has held leadership positions at some of South Africa’s blue chip companies, including Unilever, South African Breweries, Mondelez and at Absa where he was head of marketing for the Retail & Business Bank.

“Ally has extensive integrated marketing experience from the both client and the agency side. His perspective will be invaluable to us as we adapt our model to service an ever changing integrated marketing landscape,” said Abey Mokgwatsane, Chief Executive Officer of Ogilvy & Mather South Africa.

Mokoena looks forward to joining the O&M family, saying, “I’ve spent 8 of my 17-year marketing career as a client of Ogilvy. I know the brand well and have huge admiration for its people and the work that they do. The Ogilvy team are like family to me and the opportunity to join them is an exciting one.”

Mokoena holds an MBA as well as a BComm and LLB degree from Rhodes University. He completed a Management Development Programme at UCT’s Graduate School of Business and is also a Chartered Marketer through The Marketing Association of South Africa.

In concluding, Mokgwatsane stated, “As we are constantly challenged by the changes in our industry, we ourselves need to look for the most dynamic people to help us shape the future of our business. We believe Ally fits the role perfectly and with us also announcing our merger with Gloo this week, it gives him an excellent opportunity to lead his Jo’burg team in creating an agency of the future.”

The Ogilvy Internship Programme is a great chance to learn, and get to grips with how an agency works. You’ll gain untold experience and have the rare opportunity to learn from some of the most talented people at Ogilvy & Mather South Africa.

Applications for our 2015 intake are now open! To apply to be an intern at an O&M office here in South Africa, click here to download the application form.

#ogilvychange, Ogilvy & Mather’s behavioural sciences practice, launches in the country this week, offering clients a new perspective on building their brands with the latest thinking in cognitive and social psychology combined with Ogilvy’s communications expertise.

Ogilvy & Mather’s behavioural science practice, #ogilvychange, will further expand its global footprint yet again this month; this time in South Africa.

A frenetic consumer culture has caused brands to market their products with little regard given to the number of decisions customers make on a continuous basis in today’s modern world.

Since launching in London in 2012, #ogilvychange has striven to restore the balance, combining the gravitas of leading research in cognitive psychology and behavioural economics with the communication expertise of the Ogilvy & Mather Group (O&M). #ogilvychange melds a team of creative marketing architects with an active community of behavioural science experts, including leading academics. The result is a duo that makes for valuable and actionable insights that can translate into the real world, to real people and to real behavioural change — influencing people’s behaviors and, finally, their purchasing decisions.

Led by long time behavioural economics champion, co-founder of #ogilvychange and Vice Chairman of O&M UK, Rory Sutherland believes that if there is one commonality between marketers and neo-classical economists, it’s that they have both become so preoccupied with the model of “how people should decide” that they completely neglect to ask the most pertinent question: “how do they actually decide?”. This has resulted in a seemingly impassable gulf between marketing theory and practice, creating a disingenuous disconnect between brands and their consumers.

“Recent academic studies in cognitive psychology, social psychology and behavioural economics suggest that over 90% of our decision-making is conducted somewhat unconsciously and automatically on a daily basis. That’s where we fit in — using behavioural science practices to change consumer behaviour. Simply put, we take little ideas from big thinkers that solve big behavioural problems,” says Sutherland.

Ogilvy & Mather South Africa’s Group Strategy Director, Neo Makhele, is excited to bring this future-focused thinking into the South African marketing mix, “Our clients are constantly looking for ways to improve their bottom line and, as their marketing partners, we need to ensure that this happens for them as the market changes. With the advances #ogilvychange is making abroad, it just makes sense for us to bring this to the South African shores.”

Along with Sutherland and Jez Groom, Co-Founder of #ogilvychange and Group Strategy Director of O&M UK, Makhele will oversee the practice in the South Africa. In addition, and to introduce the practice to current clients, O&M will host exclusive workshops over the next few days, faciliated by both Sutherland and Groom.

For more Little Ideas from Big Thinkers visit www.ogilvychange.com or follow @ogilvychange on Twitter.